I have been painting for many years and doing art in one shape or form all my life. I have vivid memories of drawing with chalk on a slate board or with pencil on any blank piece of paper or cardboard I could find.
When I was about four I remember taking empty soft drink bottles to the corner shop and exchanging them for a new stick of chalk. I was in awe of the box of beautifully coloured tapered sticks. My favourite colour was red, and I can still see it as the shop keeper carefully slipped it into the new white lolly bag. Oh what a memory - maybe that’s why for the past 23 years I have worked exclusively in pastel. I still feel like a kid in a lolly shop when I stand in front of the rows of beautifully coloured pastels.
Out of necessity I have taught myself, due to the commitment of raising my five children. My first was born in 1974 and my last was born in 1995. During those years I never found enough free time for formal lessons, and have never been lucky enough to find a mentor to guide me, so I fumbled along over the years happily enjoying the accidental discoveries that pastels have shown me.
